Live Magazine September 2014 Volume 9/2014 | Página 12

gaming in the US

ASSASSIN’S CREED: UNITY – DEATH
OF THE FEMALE ASSASSINS
Ever since the release of the first Assassin’s Creed game in November
of 2007, I have been an avid fan of
the franchise. In fact, it was the original Assassin’s Creed which inspired
me to delve deeper into the industry
side of video games simply based on
the revelation that the game was being produced by Jade Raymond. Before Assassin’s Creed, my teenage
self always dreamed of being paid to
play video games. I didn’t know exactly what that meant at the time, but
once I read more about this game I
loved so much, I discovered that a
woman was the face behind its production. Yes, a woman. To this day I
still greatly respect and revere Jade
Raymond as an industry professional because her involvement and
visibility during the production of Assassin’s Creed inspired me to learn
more about the industry I loved. But
not only that, she truly inspired me

ditional production work, my heart
broke.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity is the seventh instalment of Ubisoft’s heroic
series and, from what we’ve seen
so far, promises to be a worthy successor to the exceptional Assassin’s
Creed: Black Flag. Set in Paris on
the eve of the French Revolution,
Assassin’s Creed: Unity provides
an epic stage for the story of Arno
Dorian – our new protagonist. In addition to the game’s gorgeous Parisian landscape, Ubisoft’s production
team has improved free run mechanics, added intriguing new side
missions, deeply enriched the NPC
behavior system, and detailed the
city structures to an impressive level
of realism. However, despite having
the time and ability to develop each
of these characteristics, the one
thing Ubisoft’s development team

course of three years. That’s three
more studios than were involved
with Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag,
and there were definitely female assassins in that game; granted, they
were NPC’s, but the physics and
animations remained. Additionally,
it’s not like Ubisoft has never developed an Assassin’s Creed title with
a female protagonist. Assassin’s
Creed: Liberation introduced an excellent female assassin in the form
of Aveline.
In my opinion, there’s no excuse
here on the part of Ubisoft. The introduction of co-op in Assassin’s
Creed: Unity inspires a new level
of inclusivity within the Assassin’s
Creed universe. Personally, I cannot wait to gather my friends together and slay our way through
the bloody French Revolution. But I
would be lying if I didn’t say I’ll be a

“PERSONALLY, I CANNOT WAIT TO GATHER MY FRIENDS TOGETHER AND
SLAY OUR WAY THROUGH THE BLOODY FRENCH REVOLUTION..”
to chase my aspiration of becoming
involved with video games on the
production level; a goal I had never
thought to be obtainable. So when
news broke recently that Ubisoft
abandoned the idea of women assassins in Assassin’s Creed: Unity’s
co-op due to the pressure of ad-

didn’t have time for was female assassins. Understandably, adding the
additional animations and physics of
female characters would have been
added work for the team, but let’s not
forget the production of Assassin’s
Creed: Unity has been spread across
ten different Ubisoft studios over the

bit disappointed I can’t do that with a
character who reflects my likeness.
I play video games to escape my
real life and live out wild fantasies.
As a female gamer, that suspension
of disbelief is greatly disillusioned
when I’m forced to interact as a
male protagonist; especially within